BOLTON comedian Peter Kay is to star in a comedy biopic based on the life of DJ and writer Danny Baker.

Cradle to Grave — an eight-part BBC Two series — is an adaptation of Danny Baker’s autobiography, Going To Sea In A Sieve.

Set in 1974, it follows the real-life events of Danny and his family and also features former EastEnders and The Bill actress Lucy Speed.

Peter, who plays Danny’s father, Fred ‘Spud’ Baker, said: “I am thrilled and honoured to be involved in a project of this scale.

"I've never known anything like it before, eight period half-hour episodes, shot as feature films and written to an extremely high standard by Danny Baker and Jeff Pope.

"It's an exciting time.”

In Cradle To Grave, 15-year-old Danny Baker — played by Laurie Kynaston — is the guide through the ups and downs of life with the family.

Fred ‘Spud’ Baker is a proud south London docker with a penchant for cheeky scheming and wife Bet — played by Lucy — loves him deeply but longs for the family to go 'straight’ and play by the rules.

With eldest daughter Sharon’s looming wedding, the docks facing closure and Danny’s struggles to get closer to the opposite sex, times are tough.

Comedy writer Danny said: “Well this is weird and there's no way around that.

"To see your life played out by actors is always going to be peculiar and, also, frankly quite tremendous.

"I always knew these stories were thunderingly entertaining incidents and that I seemed to be hurtling through a particularly unpredictable, high-velocity life peopled by extraordinary characters. Now here they are.

"This will be a fantastic, rich voyage back to a boisterous often maligned era, true tales told large — a strong family in a magnificent working class community just getting on with life.”

Co-writer Jeff Pope said: "The most exciting part of this series is that it all happened.

"There is nothing funnier or more dramatic than real life and Danny and his family are a treasure trove of wonderful stories.

"To see Peter Kay take on a cockney character in 'Spud', Danny's late father, is terrifically exciting."

The announcement comes as fans eagerly await the screening of his comedy Car Share, a sitcom about two workers thrown together in a company car share scheme to be screened on iPlayer in the coming weeks.

Shane Allen, controller of BBC comedy commissioning, said: “The talents involved in this series are a powder keg of writing and performing British comedy genius.

"It’s a raucous and rich world of colourful characters and hilarious stories and, like Danny himself, it’s shot through with a big-hearted ebullience.”

Kim Shillinglaw, controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, said: “I want BBC Two to be the place where creative talent can produce their very best, most authored work and Cradle To Grave is a wonderful example of this, written by the brilliant Jeff Pope and Danny Baker and starring a fantastic cast — demonstrating yet again the ambition and range of comedy on the channel.”

Cradle To Grave is due for broadcast later this year.